Something overlooked about John Paul II . . .

Something about John Paul II that hasn’t gotten much note – he resisted the tyranny of both Nazism and Communism.

The 20th century is rife with public figures who opposed one but had a blind spot for the other, mostly those who opposed Nazism but had a soft spot for the Communists and their aims.

But not John Paul.

As a Pole, he saw the evil of both firsthand. And he resisted both.

And he was on the bad list of both, to the point where his life was at risk from both time and again. It’s only by God’s providence that he lived to become pope, much less to the age of 84.

In his putting his life on the line to oppose both of the great 20th century totalitarian evils, John Paul II towers above the sad and often shameful history of that century.